[Samfromindia]

Prologue

There is a real dearth of organized car care & detailing outlets here in Kolkata. We do not have popular names like 3M which has outlets in almost every metro. While Clean N Shine Automatic Car Wash opened its shutters few years back (more on this here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/other-...-calcutta.html) and has been quite popular in the scene, i tend to stay away from automatic wash given the bad consequences which come with it:

http://www.incrediblydetailed.com/th...-your-vehicle/
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/30/a...car-wash-tips/

On the other end of the market we have very capable detailers like Premium Auto Detailing (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/other-...kolkata-2.html) but quality work do come at its price. They however started pocket friendly options using 3M products recently.

Few months back i came across The Motor Spa from social media.
https://www.facebook.com/themotorspa/?fref=ts




They seemed to offer washing and detailing at very economical prices that too on your doorstep. I wash & detail my car on my own all the time. Only on few occasions when i am tired or the car is super dirty i like to take professional help. So this seemed to be a good solution for all those days. One Saturday i called them up for booking. I found out that they were pretty much booked for the day and cannot take appointment for that weekend. So after few more weeks when i was free i called them up again to book an appointment. This time they said they will try to make it Saturday late, but ultimately were able to give me a Sunday morning slot. Giving my overall experience in pointers:

Booking Experience

+ Their office is conveniently located @Park Street.
+ The guy on phone was polite and explained me all the necessary details.
+ He was ready to offer customized packages based on my needs, but i found he wanted to up sell many of his services.
+ They need a power connection & running water for the wash. I had no problems regarding this. However many people wont have this facility. For them they are coming up with their own garage soon.
+ They could fix appointment within a reasonable time frame.

- A lot of fine prints are there in the advertisement which made their service very appealing at the first glance.
- The monthly wash package priced attractively at 700 is not offered in my place which is 5km from their office. I remember he mentioned it can be done within 2-3km radius only. Also it is basic hand wash and not pressure wash. Nowhere these are mentioned in their ad.
- My car though marketed as a SUV is really a C2 segment vehicle and shouldn't be put in the SUV category. If someone follows the detailing section of TeamBhp, they will know that 3M also did this mistake and later put Ecosport in the Sedan category of vehicles. But the owner was adamant to classify this as SUV saying though the car is smaller, the effort to clean this car is like a SUV He refused to lower the price, saying Sir, rest assured about the quality of service (more on this later).
- Then comes the shocker. After confirming the booking for snow foam wash, he mentioned, so your total cost is 499rs + 150rs for transportation + 10% service charge which is 715rs. Nowhere they mentioned about the transport & service charge. The seemingly attractive price package seemed to be a fake advertisement now. I expected 350rs for snow foam wash, and now they quoted 715 after adding all the hidden conditions. I would never have contacted them had i know i have to spend 700 plus for a basic car wash that too using my resources (electricity & water) and dirtying my place. However after following up so long i decided to go ahead and see if they can 'surprise' me with their work.

Car before wash


Washing in progress


Foam lance dispenser


Pressure washer


Foam spraying in progress


Foam spraying in progress


Car covered up with foam


More foam spraying


More foam spraying


Rubbing with wash mitt


After wash


After wash


Post wash & drying inspection


Post wash & drying inspection


Post wash & drying inspection


Washing Experience

+ They confirmed appointment at 10:30am & came before time by 15 mins.
+ Two guys came in a bike, and the pillion guy carried the pressure washer and a bag containing wash mitts, shampoos & other products.
+ I found one guy was there to operate the washer & the other was like a helper and did the manual cleaning with wash mitts and microfibers.
+ They fist cleaned the car with pressure washer. Then applied foam with a foam lance and let it stay for few minutes. After that they washed off the car again with a pressure washer & let it dry. After that they dusted off the floor mats and did basic interior cleaning with a microfiber.
+ There was a short drizzle in between the wash for which work stopped, and the whole process took around 2 hours.

- They didn't have a proper plug for the pressure washer, but just two open wires. They asked me to connect it to a plug point which i did and it blew my fuse. They never mentioned that it needs a higher amps point. They are supposed to tell these in advance given they are using this multiple times every day and at least buy a proper plug for safety purposes.
- There seemed to be some problem with the pressure washer. While one was operating the washer, the second guy seemed to hold one end of the hose 40% of the time to prevent it from leaking. These things are unexpected from professionals like them.
- The helper guy had total apathy for work. He was grumbling when i asked the other guy to fix the fuse, wanted to finish off and leave as soon as possible.
- They were complaining about the shortage of space. I was wondering how many people has a bigger parking space than me. Make sure to clear out how much space is needed before booking !
- The pressure wash was okish, wasn't able to remove the dried up dirt and bird droppings. They were removed after rubbing with wash mitt.
- The foam wash seemed more of a novelty item than of actual use. My hand wash with Sonax Gloss shampoo yields better results.
- They used a pretty basic & dilapidated microfiber after the foam wash, a far cry from the good quality ones i use.
- One guy inquired which brand of shampoo i use. I said Sonax Gloss, he said thats rubbish, only use Formula 1 car shampoo After that he started asking personal questions like if i own the whole house, how many people are on rent & all.
- After washing off the foam they didn't bother to wipe the car dry saying it may rain again. But that left some nasty watermarks as shown in the pictures above. Like i mentioned before, the cleaner guy was least enthusiastic to do work, and acted as if he is forced to do it.
- The Snow Foam wash package which i selected had many things like Tyre dressing, Headlight restorer, Dashboard cleaning with high quality protectant. They cleaned the dashboard without any solution, headlight restorer was not used, although i didn't need them anyway. When i asked why no tyre dresser, they said sir you dont need it for this climate.
- After the job is done i gave them 750rs and they left promptly without offering me the change (750 - 715 = 35) considering it to be a tip for the amazing job they have done. At that point i just wanted them to leave.

Bottomline

My experience with The Motor Spa was far from pleasant. Maybe services like these may appeal to people who are hard pressed for time and does washing taking service of roadside cleaners using one bucket of water and soiled cloth. The worst thing about them is they are not offering what they promised for. If the package has headlight restorer, tyre dresser & dashboard restorer they are supposed to use it whether i need it or not and not thinking if ill spoil it myself or will the rains do. Add to that the hidden price element which may bump up the advertised price as much as 50% (advertised foam lance package for hatchback is 300, comes to 495 with transport charges plus tax) and this false service promise even after taking SUV charges for a sub 4M crossover is totally unthinkable. Next time ill try taking the basic 3M service of Premium Auto Detailing, which may cost more but hopefully will be a much better alternative. Till then Happy Detailing !

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing . Moved out of the Directory as that's only for strongly recommended product / service providers. This one clearly isn't!